Brown Rice Rice Pudding

When I was a little one, I remember lulling myself to sleep by listing off in my brain all of the things that I might like to find in heaven should I find myself there. I started off with important things like:

I’d like to find my little sister Lauren in heaven, but I don’t want to have to share my toys with her if I don’t want to.

I’d like to find my best friend Natalie in heaven because I love to play with her hair.

I’d like to find Grandmother, Granddaddy and Aunt DeeDee in heaven because they make the best hamburgers every Friday night .

And then this list would surely devolve into something that resembles my Christmas wish list:

I want an Easy Bake Oven in heaven…

I want a Barbie Dream House in heaven.

I want mechanical pencils in heaven… I had a serious thing for mechanical pencils. Still do.

Nowadays I’m barely awake enough to get my socks off before I’m zonked out on my pillow. I’d like to put this down on record now, if you’ll indulge me.

Rinse brown rice in a strainer under cold water for 30 seconds. Set aside.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Stir in brown rice and salt. Turn flame down to medium and simmer rice, uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, drain rice and water. Let rice sit in strainer for 10 seconds and then return to the pot you cooked it in (not over a flame) and immediately put a tight fitting lid on the pot. Let rice rest and steam for 10 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, place it in a bowl and set aside. Add 4 cups of milk, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick, pinch of cardamom and vanilla bean to the pan. Bring to a very low boil, stirring often so the milk doesn’t burn. Add the cooked rice, butter and cherries to the hot milk. Stir often. Don’t ignore the milk or it might boil to furiously and curdle. Simmer until the milk cooks down and the rice is creamy, about 30 minutes. Place in a large bowl or serving dishes to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Joy, I knew I liked you the first time I read your blog. So I started browsing through and came across treats like pumpkin spice pancakes,honey whole wheat pound cake, and now THIS. You might not know this about me (since you don’t know anything about me) but rice pudding is my absolute favorite. Variations of classic rice pudding only make me happier, but the thing I give you the most credit for is your choice of cranberries rather than raisins. If I didn’t have three papers to write today, I would be making it right this second.

Am curious at the use of salt while cooking the rice? Will it not curdle with the use of milk?
In traditional Indian varieties of sweet, rice preparations =’payasams’/’kheer’ rice is cooked without salt, then added to the recipes involving milk, jaggery, coconut milk etc.
Thanks!

salt will not curdle the milk. in this recipe i used salt in the water i used to boil the rice. the salt help the flavor the rice a bit. that water is drained and then the cooked (and salted) rice is added to the warmed and seasoned milk.

What kind of rice would you use for this? I think I’ve seen brown basmati and brown risotto rice, but not brown short grain (pudding) rice. I’ve got a multigrain risotto mix though – white arborio, spelt and barley – would that work?

I made rice pudding recently and divided it up into little tupperware pots to have for breakfasts – I just zap them in the microwave and eat them on the way to work – perfect for a cold, frosty morning!

I was saying to my boyfriend, I wonder if this would work with brown rice? I used semi-skimmed milk and a little less sugar to make it healthier than the dessert version in which I use cream – but brown rice would be more healthy – even better excuse to eat rice pudding for breakfast!